The Spotted Devil

You forgot one on your list.., Norty (Springer) :D Sorry - can't answer your question!

That's too norty Ptolomy Ziggy has a very solid in sight stay, even with large dogs standing over him (won CCD and CD in just this situation - never mind MY nerves!!!) I think he really understands the exercise. I play lots of steady feet games in preparation too. I'm just starting to do more out of sights - varying distance and duration very carefully. When he does it with other dogs I reduce both. I have used bait plates behind him as a reward (thanks Sue H!) and also have food on me. I love it when he breaks in training - seems to be part of the learning process and I'm not happy with an exercise unless he has anticipated it or broken. When I cheerily tell him that we will try again he gets SO excited and he holds position really well. Nothing sh!ts me more than seeing dogs scruffed or dragged into a sit when they have laid down.

Hope you get some sleep, Sue :D

Love your signature, by the way. So true

He's beautiful, Sue! Welcome Waldo

Again, huge congratulations Sue Waldo is a gorgeous name. Hope I see some gorgeous pics to match very soon

I still see people who rock up with a chair and sometimes not even a stake and just sit outside the rings with their dog until it's time to go in! Looks like they know how to travel lightly but that setup terrifies me! I clearly remember the Perth Royal. We never travelled lightly there.....a chair, a stake and LOTS of champagne

LMAO Barb, and to think in the old days we just took a chair and a stake

I have a pretty good system that doesn't require much thinking - a cupboard full of stuff stored in the carport goes straight into the car (gazebo, bag with pegs, extra guy ropes & mallett, tarp, rubber backed matting, crate, fold-up trolley, chair) plus training bag (toys, tugs, dry treats, treat bags, poo bags, loose change), tiny soft esky (dog treats, milk, ice block), small bag (thermos, tea, snacks for me), towels and change of clothes/socks (if it's wet/muddy). So the only things I really have to think about are the cold and hot treats/food as I walk my dogs on lead to the car (Zig in his coat) and they have a non-spill water bowl in the car and a large bottle of water. If you get your CCD title before the entry closing date, ring the club sec and have your entry changed to Novice. Otherwise just enter CCD as per normal. In retrieving it's different and you go up in the stakes straight away (which would be rather scary!!!) ETA: In summer I take at least 10L of water, a bucket and cool coats.

Oh, Em is fine - limber tail is not uncommon in the gundogs....especially when they are silly enough to run around like lunatics before diving into the freezing cold water. She's not particularly fussed by it but I think it heals more quickly if they rest. inevitablue, that sounds promising and much less invasive. Certainly worth a shot!

It's so tough with a young, active dog too. I've been off colour for several day, I dragged myself out yesterday to train the dogs and now Em has limber tail. Keeping her quiet for this long has been difficult enough. Thinking of you, ness, and sending healing vibes to Kenz.

Crap, crap, crap I was hoping she'd made more progress. Hang in there, ness - sounds like you have good medical people on your side.

How's Kenz going, ness?

or you could come to Sydney to trial . I think Zig & Em would love a road trip! They ALWAYS love a road trip! In fact, we are taking them camping next week. Yes, very tempting.....maybe ACT in September - was going to do a few shows and I think the state agility trials are on?

Absolutely agree that it's not necessary and you need to work out what suits you and your dog best. One thing about having a very full on puppy (and I'm on my second :D) - my dogs are inside with me or outside with me - is that they can do a lot of damage in very little time. Both to themselves, each other and to your house/garden. Having a pup is tiring, particularly a VERY active one, and it's really wonderful to be able to leave the room for a few minutes or the house for several hours and not come home to a trail of destruction. If pup has shredded some of her newspaper or her bedding I know I have left her too long and do things differently the next time. Whilst I do use the crate as a tool to train or prevent particular behaviours, I keep it to a minimum. I have never used the crate to 'teach' toilet training. Pup is taken outside very regularly (every half hour to begin with) and lots of praise/treats are given. Sitting at home (apparently working ;) ), both dogs are very relaxed. Pup is fast asleep in a bed next to my chair and Dally is asleep on his own chair. They know we will go training/walking later in the day.

My Springer is VERY active and everything goes in her mouth so the crate has been wonderful. My Dalmatian was quite similar. Used correctly, crates can teach appropriate behaviours by setting puppy up to succeed. Used inappropriately, crates become a crutch and a welfare issue (some dogs are crated for hours out of convenience). From when she came home, Em ate in her crate. This makes the crate a very attractive place to be AND it allows her to eat in peace - safe from my Dalmatian but more particularly from my very food obsessed foster failure kitten. I try to only put youngsters in the crate when they have had sufficient physical and mental activity (i.e. age appropriate exercise, training, play) so that they are tired and learn that crate time = rest time. I like to keep a very close eye on my youngsters so I can distract and guide them in terms of appropriate chewing/behaviour/toileting/playing. If I need to leave the living area (separated by a baby gate from the rest of the house) I just put puppy into the crate with a stuffed Kong (mainly dry food and sealed with some cheese/4 legs/peanut butter). Plus puppies can be hard on existing older dogs (and cats!) so it gives them a break as well. If I go out, I make sure that youngster is up for 1-2 hours first (means some very early starts sometimes but them's the breaks) and leave them with age appropriate food in the crate - stuffed Kongs, lamb necks, chicken frames (freeze if you're worried about gulping). At night, my Dally has progressed to having an open crate at the foot of our bed - he is very trustworthy and loves sleeping in there. Youngster is in a closed crate beside me - I only took her outside when she whined or became a bit restless (once a night but she toilet trained very quickly). I slept very lightly the first few nights whilst we got into a routine but it got better very quickly and she was soon sleeping through until 6am. The beauty of all this hard work is that both dogs love their crates and see it is an opportunity to rest. Making sure they are mentally/physically tired means they just about cheer when I leave the house At trials Em is very relaxed and sees the crate as some down time between all the excitement of puppy socialisation. She has graduated to a soft crate at trials without a problem but wire crates are easier at home. The Dally now has free run of the house because he has learned that me leaving the house = sleep time. Crates are BRILLIANT when visitors come, particularly children as either the kids are terrified of the "big dog" or the "big dog" doesn't want to be harassed any more. My rule is that if you can't watch dog and child the dog is crated, even it's for 5 mins as I will not risk it. I also use the crate when I'm training at home and swap the dogs around. I do reward them for going in the crate, though, because they'd rather be out training

That is too funny Vickie Enjoy the puppy antics - Fly is gorgeous! I think you need another trip across the border for an agility trial.......not that I would want puppy cuddles or anything ;)

Pretty much - a bit bastardised though as the little bugger was too quick for a clicker She had an excellent front first and then it was front, sniff dumbbell, verbal marker, treat etc I train a very formal present which keeps the criteria clear and is great for obedience. Also quickly moved to lots of articles to generalize the retrieve....wood, metal, leather but you can use anything and everything in the house. ETA: I was training that separately to doing walking singles. So one building drive and the other building self control. Around what age was this?(Can you tell I have a pup ) We are doing play retrieves at the moment in the hall which I think is where you start with a baby (10 weeks atm). Speaking of puppies, how is the little mite???? I let Em guide me quite a bit as I was not going by retrieving books. Em really enjoys performing behaviours that are very precise with very clear criteria. It seems to give her a point of focus for all her drive and she shows much more control. There was a point she reached when the lack of a clear criteria for delivery seemed to really frustrate her - she started circling me and almost offering different behaviours. I would need to check the videos but it was somewhere between 5-7 months? I concentrated on the delivery for a week and she was so much more confident when I started training again. I don't think there's a hard and fast rule. Plus, as long as you keep things fun and positive you can fix things as you go. I've learned that mistakes are perfectly ok as long as you acknowledge and fix them. Em decided that anything wooden was chewable (darn sticks!!!) so I have shaped the dumbbell all over again, really concentrating on no chewing (never chews dummies/birds). She only needed one lesson before she worked it out and the odd refresher does wonders for her retrieves in the field. She has a full understanding now and even delivers happy bumpers beautifully. I still use a high reward rate. When we started water retrieves and using birds, I didn't worry about the present but reverted to running away again as it's very novel for a youngster. Also helps prevent shaking/dropping dummy from the water. Em likes to parade her birdies to the thrower (I think she's just SO excited) so I played my adaptation of "The 2 Food Game" called "The 2 Bird Game" :D

So what kind of present would you ask for when she brought the dummies back while you were still shaping the hold in front? All I looked for was her running back to me with the dummy....lots of running in the opposite direction, crouching down and acting like an idiot helps

My Dally ate plastic bags at the beach (fish flavoured perhaps?) on 2 separate occasions. Vet was wonderful - poured the gunk down his throat, we took Zig outside so he could vomit, I helped clean it up and we were sent on our way no charge.

Go rubyroo Sounds like a tough weekend of trialling!!! Pretty much - a bit bastardised though as the little bugger was too quick for a clicker She had an excellent front first and then it was front, sniff dumbbell, verbal marker, treat etc I train a very formal present which keeps the criteria clear and is great for obedience. Also quickly moved to lots of articles to generalize the retrieve....wood, metal, leather but you can use anything and everything in the house. ETA: I was training that separately to doing walking singles. So one building drive and the other building self control.

Sue - we should definitely do cake when I get back from my trip :D

so what would foundation work for obedience include? Sue, I'm happy to show you some fun stuff in person one day Although, I think you will have some good people around you to help out! Em had foundation work with 3 sports in mind - I loved The Focussed Puppy and there was fun stuff in there for puppies of all descriptions. I also did lots of fun recalls, 2 food game, playing rough and breaking off (between Em and me and between Em and Zig), steady feet (priceless for retrieving, obedience and agility!), clicker training, shaping, taught a 'ready?' cue and a release cue etc. Find out all the things that are important to your pup and use them as rewards (food, toys, tugging, retrieving, going outside, playing off leash, having a drink, going in the car, playing with another dog, sniffing and exploring etc etc). Use a VERY high reward schedule. Especially when you start to teach something like heel work - that position has to be the best place in the world! Something I consider very important is engaging 100% with pup for 30 sec (for example) and then giving them a release cue to relax - then whenever you say 'ready?' pup is willing to give you 100% attention as well. I see so many people when training or trialling that turn their backs on their dogs (more figuratively) to talk to someone or when they make a mistake. The dog takes that as a cue to relax and start getting distracted in the middle of a training session, which becomes very self rewarding. Even between runs at an agility trial Zig understands whether he can relax and sniff and pee or tug and warm up in preparation for our next run. Does that make sense? Oh, and if you don't look/feel like a complete dill playing with your puppy you're not trying hard enough

Thats awesome. I love how they both sort of came to you at the right time! Hopefully something similar is going to happen to me with all the research and going along to shows/trials I'm doing :D I should point out that it was the breeders that I came across at the right time - I then waited 2 years for my Dally pup and 1 year for my Springer - partly availability and partly timing issues. But yes, I have been incredibly fortunate